The present invention is in the area of hangers for clothing, and has particular relevance to apparatus for providing a non-slip characteristic to such apparatus.
Slacks are purposely designed long to extend from the waste to the heels. Their length requires that they are stored unfolded by a special hanger that hangs the trousers from the cuffs or, more popularly, folded and hung across the horizontal bar of a conventional clothes hanger. Often the smooth slacks will slip from the horizontal bar so that the hanging of slacks becomes a task of balancing them on the bar. To counteract this tendency, many people and also retail establishments, use special hangers with a double horizontal rod, one bar for suspending the trousers, the other, a resilient rod that is secured at one end to the horizontal bar and clips to it at the other end to lock the suspended slacks between the bar and the rod. These hangers are fairly satisfactory in hanging trousers and slacks securely but causes a marked creasing of the fabric.
This invention is for a very inexpensive hanger for holding folded trousers and slacks, without any danger of slipping of the trouser legs, by covering the horizontal bar with plastic foam, such as polyurethane foam, a common, inexpensive material usually used for insulation or cushion padding and having a non-adhesive cellular structure that will grip the fabric.
With the polyurethane foam attached to the horizontal bar of a conventional clothes hanger, security clips may be added to the hangers for further securing the fabrics. These clips are particularly desirable when cuff-hanging or full length positioning of the trousers are desired.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention a cloth hanger is provided, comprising a hook for engaging a bar to support the hanger a first and second side bar extending at substantially opposite angles from the hook, an horizontal bar extending between the side bars at ends of the side bars away from the hook, and a pliable compression strip having a length and opposite ends, one end engaging one of the side bars and the other end engaging the other of the side bars at engagement points on the side bars between the hook and the horizontal bar. The length of the pliable strip is greater than a straight line distance between the engagement points, such that the pliable strip, curving downward, urges against a portion of the horizontal bar.
In some embodiments the pliable strip is a plastic strip. Also in some embodiments engagement of the pliable strip to the side bars is accomplished by a pivot axis at each engagement point, the pivot axis engaging each of the side bar and the pliable strip. In these and other embodiments of engagement points on each side bar are preferably substantially equidistant from the hook. In some cases there is additionally a strip of foam material along a portion of the length of the pliable strip, such that the foam material urges against the horizontal bar. The foam material may be a plastic foam material. Further, the foam material may be shaped to engage the horizontal bar around a portion of the circumference of the bar.
In another aspect of the invention a method is provided for securing an article of clothing to a horizontal bar of a clothes hanger, wherein the horizontal bar extends between two side bars each extending at substantially opposite angles from a hook. The method comprising the steps of (a) engaging a pliable strip having a length greater than the straight-line length between two engagement points on the side bars at opposite ends of the pliable strip to each of the engagement points; (b) pushing the pliable strip to an upward curvature wherein the strip does not engage the horizontal bar; (c) placing a portion of the article of clothing over the horizontal bar; and (d) repositioning the pliable strip to a downward curvature to urge against the article of clothing placed over the horizontal bar.
In some embodiments the pliable strip is a plastic strip. Also in some embodiments, in step (a), engagement of the pliable strip to the side bars is accomplished by a pivot axis at each engagement point, the pivot axis engaging each of the side bar and the pliable strip. Preferably the engagement points on each side bar are substantially equidistant from the hook.
In some embodiments, in step (a), a strip of foam material is secured along a portion of the length of the pliable strip, such that the foam material urges against the horizontal bar with the pliable strip in a downward-curved position. The foam material may be a plastic foam material. Further, the foam material may be shaped to engage the horizontal bar around a portion of the circumference of the bar.
in embodiments of the invention, taught in enabling detail below, for the first time a hanger is provided with a snap-strip for securing clothing to an horizontal bar of a clothes hanger.